Dean Janeway, president and chief operating officer of Wakefern Food Corp., told an audience at Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) Future Connect conference in Dallas last month that he plans to retire from the cooperative wholesaler in January.
Speaking at a session that focused on the topic of employee succession planning, Janeway said that Wakefern executive vice president Joe Sheridan would succeed him.
Wakefern said further details on the planned succession were not yet available.
Janeway has been president and COO of the Keasbey, NJ-based wholesale co-op since 1995. Under Janeway’s leadership, Wakefern posted a record wholesale volume of $9.6 billion for its most recent fiscal year ended October 2, 2010. Retail sales at the company’s ShopRite and PriceRite banners also reached a new zenith, $11.8 billion.
Janeway joined Wakefern in 1966, starting as a junior accountant in the frozen food division, and progressed through numerous procurement and management positions, including vice president of the frozen food and dairy-deli divisions. In 1987, he was promoted to group vice president, followed by a promotion to executive vice president in 1990.
Janeway has served on the board of directors of both the Eastern Frosted Foods Association and the Eastern Perishable Products Association, trade organizations that serve the New York metropolitan area. He also served on the board of the National Grocers Association from 1993 to 2001 and served as its chairman for two years.
In January 2011, Janeway received the prestigious Herbert Hoover Award for professional excellence in serving the food retail and wholesale industry from FMI.
Sheridan was named EVP Wakefern in 1996 after working with the cooperative for 30 years, serving worked in several management positions within Wakefern’s grocery, direct store delivery, bakery and general merchandise divisions.
It is expected that Wakefern will announce Sheridan’s replacement later this year.